Big Blue did not turn in the numbers that it expected in the first quarter thanks to more than $400m in mainframe systems, related software, and intellectual property licensing deals that rolled over into the second quarter. In the quarter ended in March, revenues were off 5.1 per cent, to $23.41bn, and net income fell by 1.1 …

COMMENTS

layoffs – coming in Q2

Its not just IBM, there are lots of other big (struggling) tech companies that could do heavy layoffs during the 2013-14 period. If the US government does not rush now to amendment immigration visa policy it may not require changes at all to the policy in the coming few years because there will be lots of techies available on the job market. No need for new techie immigrants.

Re: layoffs – coming in Q2

No kidding -- I think there is still a ton of fat that HP needs to cut. Too bad tech company layoffs often get rid of the meat and keep the fat.

I know HP had a huge round of layoffs last year when it finally got around to merging the PC and printer divisions. But that still doesn't account for all the product guys, sales guys, etc. that manage all 300 identical crap consumer HP PCs that they sell to Best Buy and the like. They probably also have multiple layers of redundant people in EDS that haven't been kicked out yet.

I work for a medium sized IT service provider, and it absolutely boggles my mind how many people in our company could be made redundant without much impact. And that's not a case of, "Oh, you just don't know what they do..." it's actually, "They don't do much of anything!" I'm by no means a workaholic, but putting in just a little extra effort really helps you avoid layoffs. Unfortunately, economics often dictates that you have to be content to not be the highest paid person on your team either...

Well that means I'm just gonna have more on my plate.

Anon for obvious reasons:

I've seen the list for next month and I loose 3 team members and from the looks of it 12 total on the floor in my area. Not a huge number really, but 2 of the 3 on my team are damned good at what they do and will be "backfilled" with bodies from the far side of the pond that will require my personal attention for at least 9 weeks, minute by minute, command line by command line, before they're even useful, never mind good at what they do. And sadly I doubt I'm likely to be offered a package any time in the next couple of years, I'll just get more work and get to book time in lieu of OT. Who knows when I'll get to *take* that time.

Resume is (when I have the cycles) getting finely honed for deployment.

Re: Well that means I'm just gonna have more on my plate.

Is that still what happens there? I thought they (and most other places) had jumped off the "offshore everything regardless of quality" bandwagon. Do they do the GE/Microsoft thing where the lowest ranked people get thrown out every year?

Re: Well that means I'm just gonna have more on my plate.

Yes, a certain percentage of employees have to be given a 3 rating and put on a performance improvement plan. Another 3 and you're out. As there are no new people to replace them, some good people have to get a 3 next time around. Soon, there won't be anyone left!